TORONTO, Aug. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has released the results of the cannabis retail store lottery draw it held on August 20, 2019. The lottery provided those who met pre-qualification requirements for one of the 42 new store authorizations announced by the Government of Ontario on July 3, 2019, an opportunity to be selected to apply for one.
4,864 eligible expressions of interest were included in the lottery draw, which was overseen by a third-party fairness monitor. The AGCO has notified the following 42 selected applicants that they may now apply for a cannabis Retail Operator Licence and a Retail Store Authorization. Applicants have until August 28, 2019 to do so, at which point the AGCO will undertake its full eligibility and licensing review. The AGCO will only licence applicants and authorize stores that meet all legal and regulatory requirements.
SELECTED APPLICANTS AND THEIR PROPOSED STORE LOCATIONS
East Region:
| Applicant | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| Ronen Ackerman | INNISFIL | 2008 COMMERCE PARK DR |
| Ethan Stark | OTTAWA | 4335 STRANDHERD DR UNIT 3,4,5 |
| Huge Shops Ontario Inc. | KAWARTHA LAKES | 566 FRANK HILL RD |
| GERMAN OLGA | INNISFIL | 1988 COMMERCE PARK DR |
| Ilim Uzunova | INNISFIL | 1982 COMMERCE PARK DR |
| Louis Laskovski | COLLINGWOOD | 312 HURONTARIO ST |
| Sofia Kuliev | BARRIE | 65 COLLIER ST |
GTA Region:
| Applicant | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| Cory Floyd Cacciavillani | BURLINGTON | 1025 PLAINS RD E |
| Ekrem Uzunova | OSHAWA | 20 SIMCOE ST S |
| Grant Willson | AURORA | 15243 YONGE ST UNIT 3 |
| Corner Grass Corp. | STOUFFVILLE | 5779 MAIN ST UNIT 105 |
| Ravino Junaev | OSHAWA | 20 SIMCOE ST S |
| 2674620 Ontario Limited | BURLINGTON | 1505 GUELPH LINE UNIT 3-4 |
North Region:
| Applicant | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| Carl Ignatius | Kenora | 420 SECOND ST S |
| Lorne J. Fine | North Bay | 390 LAKESHORE DR SUITE 3 |
| Thomas miszuk | Sault Ste. Marie | 317 NORTHERN AVE E |
| Gerald Harrison | Thunder Bay | 1802 VICTORIA AVE E |
| CC alliance | Timmins | 273 PINE STREET S |
Toronto Region:
| Applicant | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| 9247220 CANADA LTD. | Toronto | 570 BLOOR ST W |
| Najla Guthrie | Toronto | 964 KINGSTON RD |
| 11180673 Canada Inc | Toronto | 104 HARBORD ST |
| 1916384 Alberta Ltd. | Toronto | 619 KING ST W |
| Jason Krulicki | Toronto | 2480-2490 GERRARD STREET EAST UNIT 20A |
| Brian F Parker | Toronto | 1303 QUEEN ST E |
| 2197130 alberta ltd | Toronto | 1180 QUEEN ST W |
| Varant Kichian | Toronto | 213 QUEEN ST E |
| Maria Laura Rasile | Toronto | 237 QUEEN ST W |
| Helene Vassos | Toronto | 730 DANFORTH AVE SUITE 1 |
| 2464 Dufferin Inc. | Toronto | 2464 DUFFERIN ST |
| 2708654 Ontario Ltd. | Toronto | 501 CHURCH ST UNIT 4B |
| Junaid Khan | Toronto | 815 QUEEN ST W TORONTO ON |
West Region:
| Applicant | Municipality | Proposed Store Address |
| PATRICIA, GERTRUDE, DONNELLY | KITCHENER | 589 FAIRWAY RD S |
| Noah Soberano | LONDON | 1135 RICHMOND ST |
| 2249364 Ontario Inc. | HAMILTON | 1400 UPPER JAMES ST SUITE 8 |
| Pietro Greco | WELLAND | 115 DIVISION ST |
| Kyriakos G Anastasiadis | WINDSOR | 545 OUELLETTE AVE |
| 11535447 Canada Corp. | STONEY CREEK | 1338 S SERVICE RD, BUILDING C 5 UNIT 2, WINONA CROSSING SHOPPING CENTRE |
| ROBERT CHOMIAK | LONDON | 1310 FANSHAWE PARK RD W UNIT F1 |
| BARA BAHLUL | NIAGARA FALLS | 8685 LUNDY’S LANE, UNIT 6, |
| Eleonora Plata | ANCASTER | 1142 WILSON ST W UNIT 9 |
| Hratch Abrahamian | ST CATHARINES | 395 ONTARIO ST SUITE B2 |
| JOHN REYNOLDS | GUELPH | 120 WYNDHAM ST N |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Allocation lottery results
- Summary of lottery entries received by region
- Cannabis Retail Store Allocation Lottery Rules
- Registrar’s Standards for Cannabis Retail Stores
About the AGCO
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is an Ontario provincial regulatory agency reporting to the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG). The agency was established on February 23, 1998 under the Alcohol, Cannabis and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection Act, 1996.
The AGCO is responsible for regulating the alcohol, lottery and gaming, horse racing and private cannabis retail sectors in accordance with the principles of honesty and integrity, and in the public interest.
Media Contact:
Raymond Kahnert, Senior Advisor, Communications
(416) 326-3202, media@agco.ca
FACT SHEET
- On July 3, 2019, the Government of Ontario announced 50 new cannabis retail store authorizations would be made available. Of these 50 new stores, the AGCO will allocate up to 42 authorizations to applicants selected by lottery and eight to stores on First Nations reserves.
- Applicants who wished to participate in this lottery had to meet pre-qualification requirements, including confirmation from a bank, credit union, or caisse populaire that the applicant has the financial capacity to obtain $250,000 in cash or cash equivalents; confirmation from a bank, credit union, or caisse populaire that the applicant can obtain a Standby Letter of Credit in the amount of $50,000 within five business days of being notified of their selection; confirmation that the applicant has secured a suitable retail space, which will be available to them for operating a cannabis retail store no later than October 2019
- The required bank letters were provided to the lottery applicants by over 25 banking institutions
- Once the AGCO receives Retail Store Authorization applications from those selected in the lottery, residents of the community in which a store is proposed to be located will have an opportunity to provide written submissions if they believe the location of the store is not in the public interest, as defined by Ontario Regulation 468/18 made under the Cannabis Licence Act, 2018
- It is anticipated that stores will begin to open starting in October 2019, as they are ready
- The AGCO has placed the applicants not selected in the lottery on Wait Lists for each Region, based on the order in which they were drawn. Applicants on the Wait List will be moved to the selected list if those ahead of them are found to be ineligible for a licence/authorization or are otherwise disqualified
- In the future, if the Government proceeds with additional retail store allocations before moving to an open marketplace, any such allocations may be based on the results from this lottery